Sabercats win playoff matchup with Bears
Saturday, July 28, 2012 by: Brad Coccimiglio
The Sault Sabercats opened the Ontario Varsity Football League playoffs on Saturday night with a 21-7 win over the Guelph Bears at Rocky DiPietro Field.
The locals looked to get off to a quick start after recovering an onside kick to open the game but David Axsom picked off a Peter Greve pass on the opening play of the game. The Bears couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity to take an early lead and the Sabercats proceeded to open the scoring.
Sean McGonegal got the Sabercats on the board midway through the opening quarter on a nine-yard pass from Peter Greve. Alex Morrison gave the Sabercats a 14-0 lead late in the second quarter while Josh Fritz turned an interception into a touchdown in the third quarter.
Joshua Cooney had the lone major for the Bears in the loss when he caught a two-yard pass in the Sabercats endzone in the closing moments of the fourth quarter.
Sabercats coach Steve Nott was disappointed despite the final result.
“This was a team we should have blown out,” Nott said. “They came up here with 29 guys and they were hurt. We just didn’t come to play. Most of it is some young kids playing some key positions because we have some injuries. The rest of it is we’ve had some injuries now for three weeks and the guys don’t practice. They’re trying to get healthy to come and play the game but at the same time they don’t come to practice to just practice.”
Brandon Corelli had a pair of interceptions for the Sabercats defensively. Brock Hoover had five tackles while Pat McGrath and Mitchell Nisbet had four each. Nisbet also had an interception in the win.
“Defensively, we have some fantastic athletes and Guelph struggled to do anything against us,” said Nott.
Offensively, quarterback Peter Greve completed nine passes for 97 yards while throwing a pair of interceptions in the win.
Stevan Hiiemaa ran for 107 yard on 13 carries while receiver Alex Morrison caught a pair of passes for 48 yards.
With the win, the Sabercats advance to face the Hamilton Ironmen in Hamilton next weekend.
